The first of Irene's couriers reached them while they were still in the hills.
Kungas read her message several times over, before showing it to Vima and Kujulo.
"What do you want to do?" asked Vima.
Kungas was already looking back toward the east. After a moment, he turned and gazed at the distant peaks of the Himalayas.
So far off, they were. So majestic, also.
He decided it was an omen.
"We'll go back," he said. "I want that bitch dead. No, more. I want to see her dead."
After traveling perhaps a hundred miles north of the Vindhyas, following the route Damodara and his army had taken, the captain of the assassination team had had enough.
"This is a madhouse," he said to his lieutenant. "Half the garrisons vanished completely, leaving the countryside open to bandits. What's worse, the other half roaming the countryside like bandits themselves."
"And there's only five of us," agreed his subordinate gloomily. "This whole assignment has turned into one stinking mess after another. What do you want to do?"
The captain thought for a moment. "Let's start by getting away from the area Damodara passed through. We'll go east, first, and then see if we can work our way up to Kausambi from the south. It'll take longer, but there'll be less chance of being attacked by dacoits."
The lieutenant nodded. "I can't think of anything better. By the time we get to Kausambi, of course, Damodara will have it under siege. Which will be a fitting end to the most thankless task we've ever been given."
"We can probably make it through the lines," the captain said, trying to sound confident. "Then…"
"Report? To who? Nanda Lal's dead and-I don't know about you-but I really don't want to have to tell the emperor that we've traveled ten thousand miles to accomplished exactly nothing. He's foul-tempered in the best of times."
The captain just smiled. But it was a sickly sort of thing.
Chapter 34
The Iron Triangle
"Keep the pressure on," said Maurice firmly. "We'll do that. But that's all we'll do."
He ignored the sour look on Sittas' face. That was a given, and Maurice saw no point in getting into another argument with him. Sittas was the most aggressive commander in the Roman army, a trait which was valuable when it came time for headlong cavalry charges. But that same trait also made him prone to recklessness. The Romans and Persians had been able to seize the Malwa fortresses upstream on the west bank of the Indus simply-and solely-because Menander and his warships had been able to launch an attack on their unprotected rear. No such advantage existed if they tried to carry the fight across to the east bank of the river.
Menander was also looking sour-faced, however, and that Maurice did have to deal with.
"All right," he growled. "You can keep making your sorties up the river- until you spot any signs that the Malwa are bringing over ironclads from the other rivers-"
"And how will they do that?"
"Don't be stupid. They'll do it in the simplest way possible. Just pick them up and haul the damn things there."
"That'd take-"
"A mighty host of slave laborers and ruthless overseers. Which is exactly what the Malwa have."
Maurice decided it was time for a moderate display of temper. He gave a quick glance at Agathius and then slammed his fist onto the table in the command bunker.
"God damn it! Have you all lost your wits so completely that one single victory turns you into drooling babes?"
"Take it easy," said Agathius soothingly. As Maurice had expected, the crippled cataphract commander picked up the cue instantly. He'd been a tremendous asset ever since he arrived in the Triangle.
"There's no need to lose our tempers. Still, Maurice is right. It'll take them some time, but the Malwa will get those ironclads into the Indus. One, at least-and you've already admitted, Menander, that the Justinian probably can't handle even one of them."
Menander still looked sour-faced, but he didn't try to argue the point. The Justinian had mainly been designed to destroy Malwa shipping. Its guns were probably as heavy as anything the Malwa ironclads had, but it wasn't as well armored. They'd been designed to do one thing and one thing only-destroy the Justinian, if it ever came out against them.
Agathius swiveled on his crutches to face Sittas. "And will you please leave off your endless pestering? To be honest, I'm as sick of it as Maurice is. Sittas, even if you could get your cataphracts across the river in the face of enemy fire-"
"We could go-"
"Upstream? Where? Anywhere below here and Multan, the Malwa now have fortifications all along the Indus. And if you try to take your cavalry north of Multan…"
He shrugged. "Leave that to the Persians. We need the cavalry here in case the Malwa manage to penetrate our lines somewhere."
For all his stubbornness, Sittas wasn't actually stupid. After a moment, the anger faded from his face, leaving an oddly-rueful expression.
"It's not fair!" he said, half-chuckling. "Once again, that damned Belisarius grabs all the glory work for himself and leaves me to hold the fort."
Unexpectedly, Calopodius spoke up from his communications table. He normally kept silent during these command conferences, unless he was asked to do something.
"Is a shield 'false,' and only a sword 'true'?"
All of the commanders peered at him.
"What does that mean?" demanded Sittas.
Calopodius smiled and pointed a finger-almost exactly in the right direction-at his servant Luke, sitting inconspicuously on a chair against a far wall, next to Illus.
"Ask him."
The commanders peered at Luke.
"Ah…" said that worthy fellow.
Antonina took a slow turn on her heels, admiring the huge audience chamber of the Goptri's palace in Bharakuccha.
"Pretty incredible," she said. "You'd think the weight of encrusted gems in the walls alone would collapse the thing."
Ousanas shared none of her sentiments. "Incredible nuisance," he grumbled. He gave Dadaji Holkar a look from under lowered brows. The peshwa of Andhra was standing just a few feet away from them. "Mark my words, Antonina. No sooner will this current world war end than a new one will begin, every nation on earth fighting for possession of this grotesque monument to vanity."
She chuckled softly. "Don't exaggerate. The fighting will be entirely between you and the Marathas. The empires of Rome and Persia and Malwa will only send observers."
Dadaji made a face. Ousanas sneered.
"Ha! Until they observe the obscene wealth piled up here themselves. At which point great armies will be marching. Mark my words!"
Still slowly turning, Antonina considered the problem. To be sure, Ousanas was indulging himself in his beloved Cassandra impersonation. But there did remain a genuine core of concern, underneath.
What were they to do with the Goptri's palace? Except for the palace of the emperor himself at Kausambi, it was the most splendiferous edifice ever erected by the Malwa. And the interior was an even greater source of greed and potential strife than the glorious shell. For every gem encrusted in the walls, there were twenty in the chests piled high in the vaults below. Along with other chests of gold, silver, ivory, valuable spices-everything, it seemed, that a viceroy could flaunt before a conquered half-continent.